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Audiofile Basement 3 Eating the Cannibal Merrymolemusic An outstanding solo effort, this remarkable album was written, produced, engineered and performed by songwriter Kenny G-Spot (a.k.a. Ken Schick, a veteran musician best-known for his saxophone work with Neosoreskin, the Brownies, Dub FX and other local bands), with special appearances by Mike Freitas, Kevin Higuchi, Swampy Dave, Les Harris, Mike Vondran, Kevin Murray and Mike Mattingly. This sexy low-rock album could well be the jazzy soundtrack to a modern film noir crime thriller. While the music features an incredibly seductive saxophone and is given an exotic feel through the use of kalimba, African marimba, shakuhachi and various percussion instruments, Schick's nasal vocals have an almost punk-rock quality that brings to mind Les Claypool. Strong from start to finish, the cohesive album's distinctive sound--a fusion of jazz, world, industrial and pop music--is consistent and bears some similarity to Boston's now-defunct Morphine. In fact, the concluding track, "Sandman Sleeps," is a tribute to Morphine's late frontman, Mark Sandman, on which Schick sings, "My eyes are wide open as I watch the Sandman sleep/Thanks for all the nights you helped me pass into a place where my soul goes deep/and my heart longs to be with you and dreams come true/I know you're there now, so I won't weep for you." (Sarah Quelland) Remoter gun Self-produced The epitome of the tortured artist, Remoter frontman Andrew Fleig writes not just because he wants to but because he has to. His poetic lyrics seem to feed off of the same desperate sense of futility and anger expressed by the late Kurt Cobain. Luckily, Remoter's bouncy industrial rock successfully balances the despair found in Fleig's colorful but depressive verse. While songs like "Just for Effect" bristle with electricity, the mournful "Infant" takes a quiet melancholy approach. Lines like "Nothing else I wanted more, taking the easy way/Wake me when I hit the floor/Lies are beautiful/And you're so beautiful/Am I still beautiful?" ("Take a Bullet") and "A heart is a good thing until it collapses/Take what you can there's not much left/Waiting to die, I tried all the rest/Give me the drug, the one for the sadness" ("Masterpiece") only scratch the surface of Fleig's torment. "Splash" may be the most vivid song: "Splash my brain on the wall for the color, can't get that girl/... I hope you're impressed scrubbing off your hands with the zest trying to take the flying colors out of that dress/Told you I wouldn't miss, told you I wouldn't miss success." Other standout tracks on this extremely impressive album include the catchy "Oblivion" and the caustic "Feed That Period." (SQ) [ San Jose | Metroactive Central | Archives ]